Fuite de Madame de Merteuil

The flight of the Marquise de Merteuil follows the defeat of a lawsuit on which she had said her unsettled fortune depended. Still ill, she made arrangements and left alone during the night, travelling by post. Her servants refused to follow her, and she took her diamonds, silver, jewelry, and whatever else she could carry, leaving debts of nearly 50,000 livres. Reported by Madame de Volanges through news and servants’ accounts rather than personal observation, the departure turns a legal loss into a public scandal and a sudden disappearance.

The lawsuit and its stakes

Earlier, the Marquise de Merteuil had described the lawsuit as a serious concern because her fortune was in suspense. She expected judgment at the beginning of winter, professed confidence in her case, and said she would take two lawyers with her to the country. Her opponents, as she presented them, were minors and their elderly guardian. She was prepared to lose Belleroche if the trip helped her win the case, making the litigation a practical priority even amid her private affairs.

The final report reverses that confident expectation. The case was decided unanimously against her. The minors were awarded costs, damages and interest, and restitution of the fruits. The judgment absorbed more than the portion of her fortune already exposed to the case: the remaining wealth was consumed, and the expenses exceeded it. The scale and unanimity of the ruling leave no indication of a partial legal setback or an easy financial recovery.

The night departure

On learning the result, the Marquise de Merteuil acted while still sick. She settled her arrangements and left alone in the night, travelling by post. Her servants’ refusal to accompany her makes the departure more than a discreet change of residence: the household that might have attended her instead remained behind. The report does not establish her destination as certain; people believed she had taken the road to Holland.

Her departure also involved the removal of substantial property. She took her diamonds, which were supposed to return to her husband’s estate, as well as her silver, jewels, and everything else she could carry. The account presents the seizure of these possessions alongside the debts she left behind, converting an abrupt escape into what Madame de Volanges calls a genuine bankruptcy. The flight thus follows both the judgment’s financial consequences and the departure of assets that others expected to remain available to the estate.

Scandal and aftermath

The flight intensified the outcry beyond the lawsuit itself. The Marquise de Merteuil left nearly 50,000 livres in debts, and her family was due to assemble the following day to make arrangements with creditors. Madame de Volanges, though only a distant relative, offered to assist with those arrangements, but could not attend: her daughter was to take the habit of a postulant that same day. The juxtaposition places the Marquise’s flight amid other family and religious consequences, without suggesting that the two events share a cause.

The account distinguishes what is reported from what is known firsthand. Madame de Volanges says she has not seen the Marquise; the route to Holland is only believed, while the servants’ refusal to follow and the property taken are reported as part of the news reaching her. That distance gives the episode the character of a public reckoning assembled from judgment, household testimony, and circulating report.

Significance

The lawsuit’s defeat turns the Marquise de Merteuil’s confidence into financial collapse, while her nocturnal departure makes the collapse visible as scandal. She does not merely lose a legal claim: she leaves while sick, without her servants, carrying property expected to pass into her husband’s estate, and with creditors and relatives left to manage the consequences. The uncertain destination leaves her future outside the account, but the debts, the missing valuables, and the unanimous verdict fix the cost of her escape.